Mount
Crushmore
– Tracklisting
1.The
Incline of Western Civilization
2.Mount
Crushmore 05:07
3.Here
Come the Black Ship
4.Methlehem
5.Brazilian
Catbox Incident
6.The
Book of Duderonomy
Members
Zach
- vocals
Justin
E - guitar
Cam
- guitar
Bill
Mountain - bass
Adam
Jarvis - drums
Review
Mount
Crushmore is the debut album from Asthma Castle. I first became aware
of these guys originally a decade ago when the band released their
debut EP – Jesus,
Mary and Broseph
and it made a mighty impression on myself. Now fast forward nine
years and the band are ready to release their debut album. Why the
long wait. Perhaps because some of the members are part of the
following bands – Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, Scour, Passage
Between and Crawler.
Mount
Crushmore is a stirring mix of Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Psych and Hard
Rock. Taking influence from bands such as Mastodon, Baroness, Thin
Lizzy and High On Fire. However, that only tells a part of the
overall story. As this album has a dark and heavy progressive groove
lurking in the shadows. Asthma Castle become a more sinister and
heavier band in the second half of the album.
The
first half of the album is perhaps the strongest part of the album
with the band playing a wide range of different psychedelic
sludge/stoner grooves. Opening song – The Incline Of Western
Civilization – is a good indicator of what to expect for each of
the excellent six songs held on the album. As the music is quite
ferocious but one that offers thrilling moments of melodic
Sludge/Stoner based grooves.
Second
song – Mount Crushmore – has a more hardcore based edge and will
please fans of High On Fire the most. The song has a glorious
uplifting violent energy and the vocals have a Mastodon influence to
them in places. Though it’s the music that holds everything
together. The lyrics are very cool and match the slightly doom based
atmosphere the band have included here.
Third
song – Here Comes The Black Ship – has a classic Thin Lizzy sound
running through it’s dark veins and Asthma Castle just run away and
have fun with this song. The harsh vocals are quite intense in places
but they’re handled superbly well. The sludgier aspects of the
album start to come through around this song and Asthma Castle start
to have a more threatening presence around them.
As
I stated previously, the second half of the album isn’t as strong
as the first half. However, Asthma Castle still pull out all the
stops in creating a darker style of music and it’s quite refreshing
to hear the band take a few creative risks with their music. The
standout song on the second half has to be the final song – The
Book of Duderonomy – as Asthma Castle leave you wanting more.
The
production is excellent and this allows the band to impress from the
start with the many different musical elements they’ve included on
this album. Mount Crushmore is a winning record and despite a few
flaws this will entertain the most jaded of Sludge/Stoner Metal fan.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Earsplit
PR for the promo. Mount
Crushmore
will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via HellmistressRecords from March
15th
2019.